Background:

The grammartranslation method is a method of teaching foreign languages derived from the
teaching practices of 1500 centaury when students learned Latin for communication.

When teachers started teaching other foreign languages in the 19th century, they used the same
translation-based approach as had been used for teaching Latin.

Definition:

In grammartranslation methods, students learn grammatical rules and then apply those rules by
translating sentences between the target language and the native language.

Main goals of the method:

(1) to enable students to read and translate literature written in L2

(2) to enhance students general intellectual development

Criticism:

Grammar Translation method has been rejected by scholars, and said not to have any theoretical
basis.

Background:

The direct method of teaching is also called the natural method.

It was established in Germany and France around 1900 in opposition to the grammartranslation
method. It was based on direct observation of child language learning. It believes L2 can also be
learned as the L1is learned.

Definition:

In this method, the teaching is done entirely in L2. The learner is not allowed to use his or her
mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good pronunciation and oral
interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second languages, and
little or no analysis of grammar rules.

Following are the principles of the direct method as follows:

(1) Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language;

(2) Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught;

(3) Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully traded progression organized
around questions-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small intensive
classes;

(4) Grammar was taught inductively;

(5) New teaching points were taught through modelling and practice;

(6) Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, pictures; Abstract
vocabulary was taught through association of ideas;

(7) Both speech and listening comprehension were taught;

(8) Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.

Objectives of the direct method:

(1) Direct method connects directly between experience and language, word and idea,
thought and expression.

(2) This method intends for students to learn how to communicate in the target language

(3) This method is based on the assumption that the learner should experience the new
language in the same way as he/she experienced his/her mother tongue.

Criticism

The weakness in the Direct Method is its assumption that a second language can be learnt in
exactly the same way as a first, when in fact the conditions under which a second language is
learnt are very different.

Background:

Audio lingual method came against two principal methods: the Grammar-Translation Method
and the Direct Method. Audio lingual was born mainly in the United States and became
influential in most parts of the world in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Audiolingual Method is derived from The Army Method because it was developed
through a U.S. Army programme devised after World War II to produce speakers proficient in
the languages of friend and foes.

The Audio-lingual Method was the first method to make use of modern
science and technology in language teaching.
Definition

The Audiolingual method is based on structural theory of language and behaviorism theory of
language learning.

This method separates languages into listening-speaking and reading writing. It first teaches
listening speaking through practice, drilling and memorization of language sentences and
phrases in language lab.

Then, it teaches reading and writing through using the oral lesson learned in previous class in the
form of reading material to establish a relationship between speech and writing. All reading
material is introduced as orally first. Writing, in the early stages, is confined to transcriptions of
the structures and dialogues learned earlier. Once learners mastered the basic structure, they were
asked to write composition reports based on the oral lesson.

Example
The teacher spends most of the time in the class drilling the learners on grammatical and
phonological structures. Error correction is also important.

Criticism

In the late 1960s its theoretical basis linguistic structuralism and psychological behaviorism
was attacked by Chomsky. He suggested language learning is a mental process and change in
behaviorism does not explain language learning correctly.